I used a 15" laptop for quite a long time. I got a 24" monitor lately. For the first 2 days it seemed huge to me, even too big. Now it's just the right size and I wouldn't mind getting a 27" ;-) You'll get used to the size very quickly.

I looked at a 27" iMac in the Apple store today and I have to say I think it's too much screen unless you like to watch movies or develop software. The 24" iMac I have at home is just big enough to watch movies.

I looked at a 27" iMac in the Apple store today and I have to say I think it's too much screen unless you like to watch movies or develop software. The 24" iMac I have at home is just big enough to watch movies.

Click to expand...

exactly

meaning that i have to choose between the 21.5" and a 2nd hand 24" (with good video card such as GT130)

I just recently purchased the 27inch and love it! I spent quite awhile a couple of days thinking about which size screen to get and all I can say is that after weighing the pros and cons, I'm glad I chose the imac I did. I have a nice corner desk that I put it on and because of that I was able to tuck it back a little ways... so the screen is really about 2 and half to 3 ft from my face when sitting in the chair.

It seems huge to start but in just a few days i have gotten used to it. The quality is amazing and the resolution is ridiculous. You have to turn the brightness down a bit out of the box. It's almost blinding..

I just recently purchased the 27inch and love it! I spent quite awhile a couple of days thinking about which size screen to get and all I can say is that after weighing the pros and cons, I'm glad I chose the imac I did. I have a nice corner desk that I put it on and because of that I was able to tuck it back a little ways... so the screen is really about 2 and half to 3 ft from my face when sitting in the chair.

It seems huge to start but in just a few days i have gotten used to it. The quality is amazing and the resolution is ridiculous. You have to turn the brightness down a bit out of the box. It's almost blinding..

The bottom line is it really depends on how far you'd be sitting from the screen. How my desk is designed I only sit about 1.5 - 2 feet from my screen so it'd be kind of ridiculous to have a 27" screen where I'd have to move my entire head to view both ends. It'd be like having a 55" plasma TV and sitting only 5 feet away.

He he. I can certainly understand your reaction. I can remember my whole family gathered around a 16" black-and-white television watching Ed Sullivan. Our neighbours had the coolest 20" with a screen that sat on the TV's screen that was supposed to simulate colour!
Anyway, I have a 24" and I can't even imagine why Apple went to a 27". Anyway, yes, it is HUGE.

Honestly, the 27" does look a little big for my desk, but DAMN does it look nice. I just wish I could have gotten an i7 in the 21.5". As it is I already have a 22" Monitor for my other desktop and just bought a 32" HDTV not too long ago. I don't know what I'd need another huge screen for. I can always get a DVI adaptor and rock dual 22"s if I feel the need for more screen space... Oh I also have a spare 17" 4:3 LCD sitting around just in case.

On the note of screen realestate... I do a good amount of developing and I rarely need more than the 22" because I use spaces. I have my Terminal and Finder windows open on one space, two text editors side by side on another (I use TextWranger, so they are tabbed), and then on a third space I have GitX for uploading to my repo along with Adium and email for communication, then on my third I have iTunes. I don't feel like I need ALL of this on one screen.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.